Content
- 1 What does the ilmak mushroom look like?
- 2 Where does the ilmak mushroom grow?
- 3 Is it possible to eat yellow oyster mushrooms?
- 4 How to cook ilmaki mushrooms
- 5 Recipes for cooking ilmakov mushrooms
- 6 How to cook ilmaki for the winter
- 7 False look-alikes of the golden lemon oyster mushroom
- 8 Collection rules
- 9 Growing lemon oyster mushroom
- 10 Conclusion
Ilmaki mushrooms are ordinary oyster mushrooms, only slightly different in color and some characteristics. The fruiting bodies are edible, suitable for winter harvesting, preservation, and cooking. Ilmacs grow in nature on trees, and if desired, a mushroom picker can grow them independently at home on a prepared substrate.
What does the ilmak mushroom look like?
Translated from Latin, the name of the mushroom sounds like Pleurotus golden. People call oyster mushroom lemon, yellow, golden.However, more often the mushroom is called ilmovik or ilmak. The name was not given by chance. Oyster mushrooms of this species usually grow on elm, a common tree in the Far East. Fruiting bodies populate the trunk or stump in groups of up to 30 pieces. The family has no pattern of arrangement. Ilmacs simply parasitize the tree in compact clumps. Mushrooms are rarely found alone.
Yellow oyster mushroom grows in groups of about 30 mushrooms
If you compare the photos and descriptions of ilmak mushrooms, you can get a little confused. Most often you can see beautiful yellow caps in the image, but in reality they are almost white. There is nothing unusual here. It’s just that young ilmak trees are more often seen in the photos. The surface of their caps is truly lemon-yellow. The shape is flat. A small depression forms in the middle. As the oyster mushroom matures, the yellowness gradually disappears. The mushroom cap becomes white.
In nature, ilmak trees grow large in size. The diameter of the cap reaches from 5 to 30 cm. The spore-bearing layer consists of white plates. Sometimes they take on a pinkish tint. The plates are smooth, compacted among themselves, and smoothly pass from the cap to the stem. Mushroom pickers love ilmak for its fleshy pulp. The younger the oyster mushroom, the juicier and softer it is. The pulp is rougher in the area where the mushroom cap meets the stem. Experienced mushroom pickers recognize the type of oyster mushroom by its floury aroma
The leg of the ilmak is cream-colored. In large fruiting bodies, it can reach a length of 8 cm and a width of 3 cm. In the family, oyster mushrooms can be found with a long, elongated stalk or completely without it. This structure is due to the adaptation of ilmak trees to environmental conditions.
Where does the ilmak mushroom grow?
In the wild, ilmacs grow throughout the warm season, usually from May to September. Sometimes the harvest can be harvested even in early December. On the territory of Russia, massive growth of oyster mushrooms is observed in Primorye, as well as in the Southern Amur region. For mushrooms they go to the forests where cedar, elm and other broad-leaved trees grow. Clusters of yellow fruiting bodies are looked for on the trunks of weak or fallen trees and stumps.
Golden oyster mushroom can be found on stumps, growing and fallen tree trunks
In the video you can see how ilmak trees grow in Primorye:
Is it possible to eat yellow oyster mushrooms?
Ilmak is considered a completely edible mushroom. The pulp has excellent taste. Mushroom pickers value oyster mushrooms collected in the forest more than those grown on substrate. Wild fruiting bodies are more fragrant. The most popular recipe among mushroom pickers is ilmak with potatoes, where after picking mushrooms are fried with onions and then added to fried potatoes. Delicious oyster mushrooms, marinated, dried, salted.
Yellow oyster mushrooms look appetizing even growing on a tree
In adult mushrooms, the stem is often discarded. This is not due to her toxicity, but simply because she is rude. If the ilmak is very old, then remove part of the cap where it fuses with the stem.
How to cook ilmaki mushrooms
There are many recipes for cooking oyster mushrooms.The most popular are fried mushrooms alone and with potatoes, marinated, salted, stewed. It turns out delicious soup with ilmak, sauce, pizza or pie, where the fruiting bodies are used for filling.
It is advisable to boil wild mushrooms for about 10-15 minutes before cooking.
Before preparing the dish, the mushrooms need to be prepared. The procedure begins with cleaning. There is no need to remove the skin or spore-bearing layer from ilmacs. Simply use a brush and knife to clean off the dirt, cut off the damaged areas and the lower part of the leg. The fruiting bodies are washed and placed in a container with salted water so that they do not turn black. They are inspected again before cooking. If dark spots appear, they are cut off with a knife blade.
Recipes for cooking ilmakov mushrooms
Every housewife has her own favorite recipe for making ilmaks. Moreover, mushrooms are not only eaten for pleasure, but also used for medicinal purposes.
Shredded ilmaki are an excellent ingredient for salad
One such example is a popular recipe for a tincture that helps strengthen the immune system and prevent the formation of tumors. To prepare, you need to pour 50 g of crushed ilmaks into 0.5 liters of wine. The finished tincture is taken for cardiovascular diseases three times a day, 1 tbsp. l. To fight tumors and mastopathy, 300 g of crushed ilmaks are infused with 500 g of vodka. If you need a tincture simply to strengthen the immune system, infuse 100 g of oyster mushrooms in the same amount of vodka.
In almost all recipes you need to cook ilmaki in a large amount of water. This is due to the fact that the mushroom releases a lot of juice during heat treatment. To cook oyster mushrooms, they are first filled with cold water. Add salt and spices according to your taste.Cooking time after boiling water is 20-30 minutes. The larger and older the mushrooms, the longer they need to be boiled. Place the finished oyster mushrooms in a colander and allow time to drain. Boiled mushrooms can be eaten immediately or used to prepare other dishes.
To fry ilmaki mushrooms, they do not need to be pre-cooked. The mushrooms will be tasty, aromatic and not watery. However, fruiting bodies are prepared without boiling if you are confident in their environmental purity. For example, oyster mushrooms are grown independently on a substrate or collected in the forest far from roads and industrial enterprises. To fry, ilmaki with onion rings are placed in a heated frying pan with vegetable oil. To prevent all the juice from evaporating, cover with a lid. Fry for about 20 minutes until golden brown. You can add vegetables or fried potatoes if you wish.
How to cook ilmaki for the winter
To enjoy mushrooms in winter, housewives salt, pickle, and freeze them. You can dry ilmaki, but this storage method is not very popular. Drying is often attacked by insects; if stored improperly, it disappears and loses its taste.
How to salt ilmaki
Salted ilmaki compete well with pickled mushrooms and are considered the best appetizer. A simple pickling recipe is designed for 0.5 kg of mushrooms. Pour 2 liters of water into a stainless steel or enamel pan, add 50 g of salt, add mushrooms and cook for up to 7 minutes. The finished ilmaki are discarded in a colander.
Pickling is one of the best ways to prepare food in winter.
For pickling, prepare a brine from 300 ml of water and 1 tbsp. l. salt. From the spices add 4 leaves of laurel and black currant, 4 black peppercorns. Bring the brine to a boil, cook for 5 minutes, let cool.The liquid is filtered through cheesecloth, boiled again without spices and allowed to cool. The mushrooms that have drained in a colander are placed in a sterilized jar. Ilmaki are filled with brine, covered with a lid, and sent to the refrigerator. After a week you can taste it.
How to marinate ilmaki
Marinated mushrooms are considered the #1 appetizer. Ilmaki is delicious in its pure form and as a salad ingredient. To marinate the harvested crop, you need to prepare a marinade. Add 1 tsp to 1 liter of water. sugar, 0.5 tbsp. l. salt and 1 tbsp. l. vinegar. Spices include bay leaf and black peppercorns. After the water boils, add all the ingredients along with the mushrooms and simmer for about 30 minutes. Ilmaks in the marinade are given a little time to cool, put into jars, and covered with lids. When the mushrooms have cooled completely, they are sent to the refrigerator.
For pickling, it is optimal to use 0.5 liter jars
How to freeze ilmaki
It is best to freeze oyster mushrooms that are pre-cooked. Once defrosted, they will be immediately ready to eat. The boiled fruiting bodies are allowed to drain in a colander. Each mushroom is individually laid out on a tray and placed in the freezer for 4 hours. When the oyster mushrooms become “glassy,” they are packaged in bags or plastic boxes and sent back to the freezer for long-term storage.
It is better to store frozen food in plastic boxes.
Ilmoviki can be frozen fresh, without boiling. The fruiting bodies need to be cleaned, rinsed quickly under water so that they do not become saturated with moisture and dried. Further steps are the same as with boiled oyster mushrooms.
False look-alikes of the golden lemon oyster mushroom
The yellow oyster mushroom has no false twins. There are fruiting bodies that are similar in morphology, but they have nothing in common with ilmacs.
Collection rules
Mushroom picking should not be carried out near roads, landfills, or industrial enterprises. The fruiting bodies are twisted while holding the cap. If the family is large, it is better to cut the sprout with a sharp knife so as not to damage the mycelium. It is not advisable to take very old mushrooms. They can be wormy. In addition, the pulp of such fruiting bodies is coarse and difficult to process.
It is better to put the harvested crop in a container or basket.
Growing lemon oyster mushroom
In the photo, lemon oyster mushroom is growing in a bed loaded with substrate. However, the most common practice is to grow mushrooms in bags. The substrate is prepared from straw, hay, seed husks, and sawdust. The organic matter is poured with water, boiled for 2 hours, left to drain and cool. A substrate is considered good if it releases a few drops of water when squeezed with a fist.
At home, yellow oyster mushroom is grown on a substrate
Buy mycelium for planting. Store it temporarily in the refrigerator, but do not freeze it. When the substrate is ready, it is laid out in plastic bags. The mycelium is spread in layers. You need to wear gloves to avoid infection. Bags seeded with substrate are placed in a dark, cool room. After about 18-20 days, the mycelium will grow. Using a knife, cut slits into the bags through which the fruiting bodies will appear. Mushrooms are provided with humidity of about 80%, air temperature up to + 25 OC, good ventilation. Hats are sprayed with water at room temperature 1-2 times a day.
When properly grown, a mushroom picker collects mushrooms for 6 months. The first two waves of the harvest are considered the most productive.The result is considered successful if 3 kg of oyster mushrooms are collected from 1 kg of mycelium.
Conclusion
Ilmaki mushrooms can be grown in winter when there is a heated room. However, most often mushroom pickers do this in the warm season. Spending on space heating is not always profitable if there is no good market for profit.
